Predictors of Caregiver Burden in Primary Caregivers of Autism Spectrum Disorders

The present study attempts to explore the predictors of caregiver burden in parents of children with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The sample consisted of 20 parents (fathers=2; mothers=18) of individuals with ASD, with a mean age of the parents as 39.2 years (SD=8.01) and the age range of their children afflicted by ASD being 5 to 13 years. The predictors included 'Socio-Economic Status of the Caregivers'; assessed by "Socio-Economic Status Scale" by Kuppuswamy (1983); 'Age of Caregivers', 'Age of the Individual with ASD', 'Stigma of the Caregivers'; assessed on "Experience with Stigma Scale" by Werman and Schulman (2013); 'Functional status' of the individual with ASD was assessed by 'Katz Index of Activities of Daily Living' (Katz, 1983); and 'Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale' (Lawton & Brody, 1969). Care giver burden was assessed by the scale developed by Zarit et al. (1980). The results of Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis revealed that 'Experience of Stigma' is the major predictor of'Caregiver Burden' and 63.5% of variations of score in 'Caregiver Burden' is explained by variations of score in 'Experience of Stigma'.